HAWLEY — Residents received information on potential designs for the redesign and reconstruction of a curvy and hazardous section of West Hawley Road (Route 8A), commonly referred to as the Dugway.
Representatives from VHB, a civil engineering and design firm based in Watertown, shared three designs that its team has been working on for the past year. The meeting, which took place on Oct. 21, showed the key differences between the designs and sought community feedback on which one residents preferred.
“I describe the Dugway as a relic from the horse and buggy era,” Hawley Selectboard Chair Will Cosby said, noting that the road was not designed for cars or the big trucks that use it.
According to information from VHB, approximately 435 vehicles use the road per day, with 96 tractor-trailers or trucks. Matthew Chase, director of municipal services at VHB, said that in the grand scheme of things, 435 cars isn’t that many, though in Hawley, that number is more than the town’s population. The average speed of the vehicles was 32 miles per hour on a road with a 25 MPH speed limit.
One of the main concerns regarding the three options centered on a sidewalk. Option 1, described by Chase as a maintenance option, doesn’t include a sidewalk, instead adding a two-foot shoulder, widening the road from 20 feet to 24. Options 2 and 3 include the addition of a 5.5-foot sidewalk on the side opposite the Chickley River, with the shoulders being five feet wide.
Residents were mixed on the potential sidewalk, with Administrative Assistant Tinky Weisblat noting it would be the only sidewalk in town. Chase said that the sidewalk was included in two of the designs, as it’s a prerequisite to be considered for state grant funding, but that it might be possible to get the sidewalk waived once VHB explains the situation to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
While Option 1 is noticeably cheaper (estimated by VHB to be in the range of $11 million to $15 million, while Option 2’s projected cost is $18 million to $22 million), funding might be harder. With Option 1 not including a sidewalk, Chase said that funding more than likely would not come from MassDOT, and the town would instead seek federal grants.
If the town opted against the sidewalk and instead looked for federal funding, it would go against several hundred other rural municipalities, whose roads see much more than the 435 cars the Dugway sees every day. Cosby shared that he’s applied for grants in similar situations, and that Hawley was “one of 400” municipalites seeking federal funds and that other communities see upwards of 10,000 cars a day, making them more competitive.
“If we need a sidewalk to get the stupid road fixed, then we need a sidewalk to get the stupid road fixed,” Weisblat said.
That same sentiment was held by many of the attendees at the information session, with almost all saying that Option 2 seemed like a good middle ground between the first and third options. Cosby took an informal poll of the room following the discussion on all three options, with all agreeing that VHB should move past the preliminary design phase with Option 2.
Option 3 is the opposite of the maintenance nature of option one. This option, with VHB projecting a cost of $28 million to $35 million, does everything that Option 2 does, but it also lowers the road to improve the sightline.
Chase said that the process in its entirety would take seven to 10 years. He said that over the next year, VHB will complete the final design with its team, coordinate with MassDOT and meet with abutters on West Hawley Road.
